so proud

My brother and his wife Jamie came to visit this weekend for our second Christmas. Our first Christmas was actually on Christmas with Charlie's family, but we celebrated again with my Mom, brother and Jamie. I attempted to take a picture of them before dinner, because the only pictures I had of them were from the wedding. I tried so hard.



Really, I tried so hard. Except my brother said that the orange blinking light on my camera made him cross his eyes. I did not believe him.



I took about 30 pictures I think. I deleted most of them as I took them. Eventually I laughted so hard at the faces he was making and just put the camera away.



The next day we tried again in front of the Christmas tree and the orange light blinked again and his eyes rolled back in his head. Again, we laughed, but I really wanted a good picture. I wanted proof that I really do have a family that is nice. I wanted a good shot to put in the scrapbook I am making for our adoption booklet. Don't you think I would be so proud to put those pictures in our scrapbook?

An then there's the old addage: a picture is worth a thousand words. I'm not quite sure what this says about us.

in which joseph cuts off his nose to spite his face

For a couple of years now my Mom and I have been finding little figurines to paint for Christmas. We started with angels one year, then did snowmen the next year and this year she found a little kids nativity set to paint, along with a few more snowmen. I get excited about it every year, and forget just how hard it is.

Really. It's like childbirth, I guess.

We start out painting and chatting and it's all fun. Then you have tiny details to paint and don't have a brush small enough. Or you take your green paint and accidentally hit the back of your white snowman. Or you paint the figure, and it falls over and messes itself up. I spent so much time on Jesus, Mary and Joseph, getting them the right colors, and using a shiny clear coat on it, only to mess Joseph up completely. I wanted to cuss. And I don't cuss. And cussing at Joseph isn't a good idea, is it?



In this picture, you really can't tell that he's messed up, but the teeny-tiny features on their faces were impossible to get to. In the picture on the package, the eys have the whites and the irises...which I could not do at all. And there were 9 other figures to paint! I figure if I paint 3 every year, I'll have the complete set in only four years! Score.

And, to top it off, when I put Joseph back in the package and shut the lid, the lid took off his nose. I guess the paint must have softened it and now he has no nose. So next year, I'll be performing a rhinoplasty on poor Joseph.



After giving up on Joseph, I turned my attention to a snowman and painted him white with a striped scarf. I thought he turned out pretty cute, but I did have to wash him off several times when I did get the green paint on his back with a freak paint brush accident. It was a comedy of errors.

We did have a good time, some good snacks, and fun with friends. My mom and I invited three people to come and paint with us, and their figures turned out well too. They didn't have as many issues as I did, and they were amused by all my accidents. Actually, what I think was going through their minds was "she has an art degree? Seriously?"

I promise. I actually do.

Maybe this just wasn't my proudest moment.

But I did come home with a really cute glittery snowman that I introduced to the two other snowmen that were already under my tree. They were happy to meet a new friend.

And we won't have to paint again for another year. Amen.

hop on over

My post is on the other site...Pop on over to our adoption blog.

Happy Birthday, Santa

My nephew Harrison turned one on Saturday and we attended his party. His parents had bought him a Santa suit that they put on him and we all took pictures of him in front of the tree. Harrison is such a cutie and he really didn't even mind the beard all that much.



Birthdays have come a long way since we were little. I don't think they were such huge events before, and especially in my family. We didn't have big parties each year, and once we turned 10, the parties were over. I could have a couple friends over the spend the night, but a formal party with cake and decorations and favors ended when we were ten. And here is a sad, sad story that still embarrasses me...the year I turned 9, only ONE person came to my party. Seriously. We had just moved to Florida over the summer and in November came my birthday, and I invited all the girls in my class. Only one came. And no one mentioned it after that...and I never wanted a party again until I was 25. You're tearing up for me right now, aren't you?



And I love storebought cake, if I'm going to have cake. And I like cupcakes, cause you don't have to cut them. I believe that everyone should like storebought cake for their birthday. When Charlie and I first got married, and we were going to celebrate his birthday, I asked him what kind of cake he wanted and he said it didn't matter. So I bought a cake. Then I find out that what he really wants is his Mom's red velvet cake that she makes from scratch, and that he asked her to make. I was mad about it, cause I would have made him that cake would he have asked. But he didn't, and he didn't tell me that red velvet was his favorite. But Harrison's cake was really cute.



Birthdays are fun and kid's birthdays are especially cute. We were only at the party for an hour or so, since we had to get to another event on our social calendar (we are soooo popular these days.)

Happy Birthday Harrison.

pink, pink, pink

A few weeks ago two friends and I hosted a baby shower for our friend Crystal. It was a great afternoon filled with love, little rubber duckies, and wonderful food.



Crystal is having a rough pregnancy though, and has been put in the hospital because she is on her way to being pre-eclampsic. She doesn't have high blood pressure, but her doctor is concerned.



She is due in January, but Baby Girl might come a little sooner. She might be a Christmas present!



I love hosting baby showers. It's such a positive experience filled with all things cute and cuddly. Women ooooh and ahhhh and swoon over little teeny tiny clothes and there is always cake. Or, in this case, cupcakes. It was a great afternoon with friends.

prayer request

My sister-in-law has been put in the hospital with concerns about her mental health. These past couple of months have been really tough and overwhelming. I don't want to spend time elaborating here, but she and her husband and baby really need the love of the Lord to surround them right now. Pray that she will be touched by the Spirit and will receive His peace.

I'm a follower

I guess the old saying mentions something about the road less traveled right...and how that's somehow a good thing. Making your own path, carving your own mountain, wandering down a road that isn't paved with so many other people's mistakes. Or maybe it's something about seeing what others have missed when you have time to reflect, you can see the beauty.

I like the paved road. I do. I like it when other people have been there before and can give me advice. I like to hear about their experiences and any tips they might have to make my life easier.

But in this blogger world, being a follower is a good thing. It shows what you like to read and who you're loyal to in cyberspace. And I'm slow on this blog thing sometimes and I don't pay attention to my dashboard very often. So today when I had to log my husband off, and log on myself, I saw that I have ten followers. Ten whole people who come and read my blog. And some of them I haven't met before, but went off to read. So hi, followers. Welcome to my little corner of the world wide web. I hope you feel comfy here and will continue to come back and share the love.

So, to all ten of you who might be considered on the road less traveled, since I don't have 400 followers, this post is for you. Now that I know about you, I am coming to meet you, to see what you're all about. I think you'll be my kind of gal. I think we'll be friends, I hope so.

And I might have to be a follower myself. Who knows what things I might try now that I am a follower...are drugs and violence next? Just kidding.

Who knows where I might pop up next?

works for me wednesday

Okay, so it took me three tries to spell "wednesday" in the title, so you can tell what kind of day it is. I am tired. I am gearing up for Christmas shopping and I am tired. Already.

But I love these. They aren't new or flashy, but they make life worth living. I honestly avoided my crockpot before these babies.



I love them, and know many of you do too. How can you not? And how can they not have invented these before...oh, wait, they did. They are the SAME EXACT thing as the turkey bags for your oven! If you can't find the liners, you can use those. It works, I've tried it.

Happy Wednesday. Only 7 more days until winter break.

compromise makes for a superhero

I didn't write about my brush with halloween when it happened, well, I don't know why. I think I forgot that these pictures were taken and I happened upon them today. If you really know me, then you might gasp to see me sitting with my dog, who's wearing a costume, participating in a trunk or treat. And that gasp would be accurate.

There's a lot to this story, so let me back up.



I don't do halloween. I was raised in a family and a church that didn't do halloween. Not at all. It just wasn't a holiday that we participated in, mostly because of the witchcraft elements and all that. We never had pumpkins, didn't dress up, didn't do candy. It just wasn't something we did. And I kept to that for years. When I lived with roommmates after college, sometimes they would give out candy, but I didn't help. It just wasn't my thing.

Then I got married.

Most of you might get the point right then and there. Marriage. The great compromise. The pull of someone else's lives and traditions. And our first big compromise came with halloween the first year, and then with Santa at Christmas (which we didn't do either.) My husband wanted to give out candy, and I did not. It was quite the discussion, but I think ultimately it was a moot point since we were gone that night. In the passing years it has come up again and again. I compromised wtih carving a pumpkin and putting it out, but he gave out the candy and I planned to be elsewhere.

And I can't really explain why halloween irks me so much. I mean, I know it's ingrained in me that it's evil, but I'm an adult, I should be able to make up my own mind. It's probably the candy. And the greedy kids, all hopped up on sugar. And the cold. Just not the best combination.

But this year the church held a trunk or treat thing, called a fall festival. And my husband wanted to do it. I said no. But somehow I ended up out there, freezing my butt off, calming a very nervous dog in a costume, handing out candy to kids. And call me a Scrooge, but it isn't what I called a good time.

Then there was the discussion afterwards, about why I hadn't the best time. And why I couldn't just let kids have fun. And why I had such a closed off mind. You know, you might have had one of those discussions yourself. And I think it came back to this...no one should make you feel stupid because of how you were raised, and that's how I felt. I felt like my beliefs were less important than his beliefs. That's not good. So we talked about it some more and eventually called a truce. Halloween just isn't that important in the scheme of things.

And this post isn't really about halloween, per se. It's more about how we give and take as couples. How two people really have to try to come together and agree on things, or to agree to disagree, which is sometimes how we leave things. Because you shouldn't have to concede defeat if you really believe that something is right or wrong.

Ultimately, all married couples have to figure out how to fight. Do you fight with angry words, or with calm discussions? Or is it somewhere in between? Do you come out the other side feeling better, or worse? Was it productive, or just venting? We try to make sure that we come to some agreement at the end as to how we are going to move forward. It's how we make it work.

How do you make it work?

deep, philosophical questions

This week we filled out our Statements of Faith for our adoption applications. If you were asked the question "who is Jesus Christ to you?" how would you respond? I already filled it out, but I am curious to see what others might say.

Just wonderin'.